Right after work I went out to the garage for some flippers. Warming up was whatever, got kickflip and fakie flips then took awhile to get a sketchy halfcab flip. Moved on to b/s flip and heelflip then treflip. I got a couple bad ones, but was close to some fully rotated ones that felt good. Still breaking in the new shoes so there’s that too. I went for nollie varial flips for awhile and got the sketchy one in about 15 tries. I was hyped as I haven’t been able to land this on in a long time. Last thing was to try some switch flips. The first few were quite close, but then they disappeared so I went in for dinner.

(setup 8.25 303 deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 HL, venom 88a big bushing, 91a small bushing, spitfire 52mm 99a f4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 mustard 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Was not gonna skate, but still floating around the idea of going for 365 in 2021 so I went to the curb on a nice afternoon. And it was super fun. Just did a few slappies, kickflips. I’m liking the Thunders. I had a new pair of the 212s. This time in an ugly bright mustard color.

(setup 8.25 303 deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 HL, venom 88a big bushing, 91a small bushing, spitfire 52mm 99a f4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 mustard size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a really nice morning I met up with Rob, Kevin, Mike, Eric, Dave F and eventually Sean at dog park.  I was on my 3rd setup change of 2021 already.  Well, just a truck swap out, but that’s pretty huge.  I want flips to be easier so I’m going with some Thunder 148s.   And boy did they flip good at first for me.   After some rolling around to warm up I would have several first try flippers.  Kickflip, heelflip, halfcab flip, b/s flip and some others that came in a few tries.  Front 50s felt good on low stuff, but I struggled with the taller ledge for a reason I don’t know.  Crooks felt extra good.  I had a fun line of front 180 the parking block, halfcab flip on flat, front 50 back 180 the little guy.  Everyone seemed to be skating well.  I saw Rob get some halfcab noseslides on the taller ledges.  He also had two really bad slams in a row.  One on a back 50 body varial out that was looking so good until the last second when he hung and slammed so hard.  I haven’t seen him bounce off the ground like that in a long time.  Then on the next attempt he hit a stop rock and went down hard again.  Argh!  He kept skating though, front 50s, first try kickflip, much more.  Dave was in demo mode.  Everytime I’d see him he was landing something crazy.  Front crooks to fakie, switch crooks to forward, front 50 back 180 transfer the beam, halfcab back 50 back 180 out, halfcab boardslide several parking blocks to fakie and much more I’m forgetting right now.  Kevin and Mike were ripping the ledges.  Nosegrinds, nollie nosegrinds, back tails, back smiths.  Kevin did back smith the tall bench then back 180 nosegrind the cinder block I think.  Wowsers.  Kevin and Mike did back to back back smiths on the tall bench at one point and I got their back with a tiny crook jib.  I couldn’t get a fakie nosegrind to save my life.  I’m not sure why.  I tried some switch front crooks and failed, was close to rick flips and nollie varial flips.  My last trick was a front 50 kickflip out on the little guy.  It was fun as I haven’t done that trick in forever.  Dave got my back, but I forget what the trick was.  I think switch crook.  Eric had been ripping.  Got a few back 180 heels, 5-0s, tails, lipslides, ollies over stuff easily, back 50s on taller ledges now.  Sean ollied over one of the angled crossbeams all crazy and of course had nosegrinds, 5-0s like they were nothing.  

Some people stopped skating, Dave, Sean and I went to Basemar.  Sean wanted to ollie the bump to parking lot, but there was a truck parked half into the landing.  So we ended up dorking around.  We hit the little flat gap to manny.  Well, those guys did.  I was tired and sore.  I was stoked Dave ollied it.  Sean did manual, 180s to halfcab and fakie bigspin out, 180 nose manual.  Then we skated the bump as a bank doing lots of side rock variations.  Dave was going hammer though and going for sex change.  He ended up focusing his very old board, going to his car and getting out his 7.75 putter then doing it first try.  Ha.  He would also go on to get a really cool trick that I filmed for Stubborns 2.  I don’t know what to call it so I’ll just say it’s a nollie shove into a fingerflip.  Sounds awesome right?  Then Matt showed up to sell a calendar and we chatted for a while as the sun finally came out again.  

(setup 8.25 303 deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 HL, venom 88a big bushing, 91a small bushing, spitfire 52mm 99a f4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 4/10 probably from feeling a slight cold or something)

With my Venture 5.8s back on I met Rob, Dave L and Kevin at Broomfield park.  I was the last one there.  For some reason I wasn’t feeling a skatepark session on a Saturday, but after a few warm up runs they suggested we bounce.  I don’t remember much of anything because I literally was only there for 10 minutes.  

We went to this school to look at some mini benches, but they had snow.  We went around the school and played on some curved ledges that could be pretty fun.  Dave almost got boardslide pop out.  Kevin almost got hurt multiple times.  Then we ended up in the nearby smooth parking lot.  Manuals, flippers were had.  Kevin did a quick up ollie several times.  I ollied it to axle stall.  A good old fashioned curb stall session ensued ignited by Rob with a pivot back tail.  Kevin did a switch front disaster and I tried, but didn’t get it.  Rob had more pivots to tail to almost 180 out.  Dave had fakie pivots.  

Then we ended up at this fun old bank spot.  The north facing bank had snow so it was a different vibe than normal.  In some ways I thought it was more fun because you were forced to roll in a certain way, but it wasn’t as fun to cruise that’s for sure.  Kevin and I had some fun b/s flips even if his was way better and landed much quicker.  Dave and Rob had some poppy ollies.  Rob struggled with crail blocks which was rare for him so he put an end to his very old board.  Dave had left.  Kevin did a Janoski flip out of the bank then fakie ollie into it which was way nuts.  I had almost done a biflip first try.  So instead of doing it quick I took like 20 tries to get a very bad one.  Oh well.  As we rapped by the car I did a kickflip on Kevin’s board that felt so good so I drove right to 303 after that and got some Thunders.  ha ha.  Gonna be 3-3 on setup changes to start the year.  Anyway, fun day with the crew and I’m hyped we got out of the park.  

(setup 8.25 303 deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, venom 88a big bushing 91a small bushing, spitfire 52mm 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

While waiting for Sean and Kevin to join I went over to the curbs and did some slappies. The board felt good. I did a couple kickflips. Kevin showed, we skated a bit then Sean showed so we left for campus. First spot we hit was the amazing little yellow ledge. Ha ha. There was ice on the run out and preventing it from being hit frontside with any angle. Kevin back 50’d it so easy and I tried to just do it too like it was nothing. But my mind had different ideas. I would never get a clean back 50. I don’t know how much the different Indys were to blame, but I was borderline focusing my board. Kevin and Sean had some fun lines. Kevin had also done fakie 50 halfcab transfer up, but then took a bit to get the line above. Sean had front 50, fakie 50, halfcab, front 180, kickflip, heelflip, ollie onto the tall ledge. I would kind of get some back 5-0s, switch nose jib, switch 180 the crack then ollie the stairs. But man I was bumming. After this we looked at some new areas, but didn’t really skate any more. Just kind walked/pushed and looked around. That new area has some serious potential for fun.

(setup 303 8.25 deck, jessup ultragrip, 144 indy mids, bones medium bushings,  spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Getting out of work early for NYE I met Jake at Broomfield park. It was almost warm and the park was popping. Lots of lurkers though so it wasn’t too bad. Warming up was alright. I was pretty sore from Frederick the night before, but it worked itself out quickly. Jake had a new board too. He got first try kickflip, I got it second try. He got fakie flip second try, I got it first try. We both got varial flip first try. Halfcab flips came quick. Jake got f/s flip quick, I got b/s flip. Then Jake got a really good treflip in a few tries. I didn’t and it was the started a rage in me that wasn’t healthy. I tried for quite a while and could not land it. Treflips were the only reason I was trying Indys again. Argh. We moved on to the black ledge and had some similar lines. Boardslide the rail then crooks. Front 180 into the bank then halfcab noseslide. Jake didn’t struggle with the frontside stuff like I was though. Ugh it was bad. I could barely front 50. Jake had 5-0 and tail. Then I said 3 more ledge tricks each before a game of SKATE. Jake got fakie front nose right away. I got a fakie front 50 coming out switch and switch nose 270 shove. I think Jake got fakie back tail. Then we both did front 50 shove. The game of SKATE was pretty fun. I landed kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flip, f/s halfcab flip, varial flip, heelflip, fakie bigflip and somehow Jake was only to SKAT. He got me with f/s flip, pop shove body varial, a really good fakie 3 shove, switch shove then broke his brand new non-null deck on a switch front shove. We had been trying treflips. Both of us close, neither of us getting it. Jake had to stop because his deck was too cracked to skate. I would get a treflip, but it wasn’t pretty. Goodbye 2020. I hope to relearn treflips in 2021.

(setup 303 8.25 deck, jessup ultragrip, 144 indy mids, bones medium bushings,  spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a cold night I drove out and met Dave at Frederick.  The park had more snow and ice than we had thought.  The manny pads weren’t an option.  The bump to ledge/hump and curb areas were about it.  And the two weird benches by the dumb sculpture.  We basically had the park to ourselves except when shoveler Patrick showed up for awhile.  We skated the hump and curb area the most.  We skated for over a couple hours so it’s hard to remember all that went down.  Warming up wasn’t as bad as you would think.  Dave did a lot of curb stalls/transfers/grinds.  All of which were made harder by limited run up.  Front hurricane, boardslides, noseslides, nose stall reverts and the amazing back axle to rock to revert transfer.  Wow.  He also had some incredible lines that had switch shoves on the hump to quick wallrides.  I mostly posed flip tricks and got used to my new trucks.  Yes, new trucks again.  This time Indy Mids.  Had to try them, they felt great before the bushings totally froze up.  I had a line of caveman grind then b/s flip the hip.  I couldn’t get a regular kickflip over the hip.  I posed hardflips for awhile on the little bank and got kind of close. I took too long to get a varial flip over the hip.  I lost interest when Pat stole my trick.  Then after he left I tried again and got a couple weird feeling ones.   I tried a line of fakie flip on the little bank then f/s halfcab flip over the hip, but was really struggling.  Dave’s lines were pretty amazing.  It’s hard to describe the crazy curb transfers then switch shoves on the hump to quick wallrides and the smoothness.  We ended on the weird sculpture benches.  I was unable to switch noseslide either way.  I guess the Indys might not be so good for ledges.  But I had some alright crooks and a fun noseslide shove.  Dave had a good line of front noseslide to fakie, fakie flip on the tiny bank, noseslide to fakie.  Oh yeah then we hit the bank for a bit.  Dave did some great fakie ollies.  I did some weak ollies to fakie.  

(setup 303 8.25 deck, jessup ultragrip, 144 indy mids, bones medium bushings,  spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Went to the garage without much motivation hoping to randomly try nollie varial heel. After some warming up I tried a bunch and was not close whatsoever. So. I went into the normal rotation stuff. Kickflip variation, heelflip variation, nollie, switch, treflip then nollie varial heel. I got a couple of the kickflip tricks. Somewhat close to switch flip. Couldn’t get a treflip to save my life. And it killed me. I managed to just stop and go inside after about 30 minutes. No landing treflips is driving me nuts. Never before have I committed so many times and not gotten feet on it. I’m gonna change something.

(setup 8″ null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 high red cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 91a bushings flat roadside washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Kevin had called out an 11am dog park session which worked good for me as I didn’t have as much time as normal. I got there first. The park was arranged pretty weird. Upon Kevin and Rob arriving we did some arranging and it worked out pretty good. The crew ended up bing Kevin, Rob, Mike, Bernie and cameos from Dan and Aki. I had nothing for a long time. I was able to pop ollies alright, but my flip tricks weren’t going well and I didn’t have much drive. Kevin was ripping the ledges a new one. Back tails, back smiths, crooks, back 180 nosegrinds, nollie nosegrinds, nollie front crooks, etc. Bernie started mellow, but got into the kick back tail battle with Kevin. Bernie would get a couple that looked oh so good. Mike hadn’t skated in a couple months and it showed. He is human after all! He still ripped though. Nollie back tails, back nosegrinds, all done with power. Rob had the sickest fakie nosegrind 180. I need to try that trick, looks so fun. He also had some long lines, front noseslides, halfcab noseslides, back 50 mongo out, back 180s over the parking block every time and much more. Rob had left. Aki had shown. Good to see him. He hadn’t skated much lately either. Still had some good 50s though. Dan showed on his lunch break right as we were about to play a game of SKATE so he joined and then won it. I wasn’t happy with getting a letter on treflip, but I managed a few tricks and was the 3rd one out. It was funny getting like 3 letters on kickflip and fakie flip. I also got halfcab flip, heelflip and fakie bigflip. I of course got letters on Kevin’s nollie and switch flips. Dan put down Janoski and won it with nollie front heel. After that we were mostly chilling, dorking around. I hucked a few kick back tails on the little guy, but never got both feet on. I told Bernie we had to do a new trick before leaving so he went and did fakie back tail kickflip out like 3rd try. That was a new one for him. And he got it so quickly! I started trying the switch nose kickflip out. I wasn’t close at all for awhile, but then just put my board on the ledge and tried it. I figured out that thinking of it as a backside flip really helped. Then as you can see above I kind of did it. i was actually pretty happy about it. Hopefully it’s a step towards doing them moving.

(setup 8″ null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 high red cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 91a bushings flat roadside washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Had more time before we left for my mom’s than I thought I would so hit up Jake and Rob for an early dog park session.  It was cold at first, but warmed up quite a bit by the end.  Especially when the strong breeze wasn’t blowing.  I was there first and quickly realized I was feeling alright for me.  Warm up line was switch front nose cinder block ledge, halfcab nose black ledge, crooks new bigger ledge.  Got back 50 on the a-frame, first try heelflip, front 50s weren’t as hard as normal.  The small board was kind of awesome at everything, perhaps because I kept the high trucks on it.  Rob and Jake got to ripping pretty quickly.  Rob halfcab noseslide the street bench, halfcab boardslides, crooks, back 50s, noseslides, kickflip, front nose 270 the new big ledge, almost backside flip, super steezy no comply back 360.  Jake had some solid front tailslides, 5-0s, did 2 or 3 varial flips in a row, joined me on crooks shove/bigspin attempts on the new ledge.  Neither of us got close, but we had some fun crooks.  Jake broke his board on a frontside flilp.  Doh.  Those guys were wrapping things up, but I had 3 tricks left on my list.  Somehow I would get them all.  Nosegrind 180 the little ledge.  Ollie the barrier off the kicker (after a switch nose 270 shove).  Then a sloppy treflip that took too long, but they all felt good.  Fun send off for the holiday weekend.

(setup 8″ null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 high red cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 91a bushings flat roadside washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 3/10)